


States of Matter

by aleria



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-18
Updated: 2013-03-18
Packaged: 2017-12-05 16:25:29
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/725364
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aleria/pseuds/aleria
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Years have passed and Jack discovers that there are sacrifices paired with being a Guardian that he wasn't ready for. With the threat of his first true believer finally growing up and forgetting him, he feels his powers melting away. But are these feelings all they seem to be?</p>
            </blockquote>





	States of Matter

It had taken a week to convince Bunnymund to open a hole to the north. By then spring had happily settled over the northern hemisphere and hope was returning after a particularly cold winter. The world seemed joyous and alive, but in the great hall of the North Pole, things were melancholy and still.

Bunnymund was finishing his fifth hot spiced wine, but it hadn’t loosened his tongue. Mostly North and Tooth spoke, nervously passing advice and condolences over the rabbit’s head. From across the table, Jack could tell that the guardian could hear none of it. His eyes were downcast, looking for some reasoning at the bottom of his cup.

Jack sipped at his own wine: cooled to his liking by his own powers. He hadn’t said anything either, though this wasn’t out of obliviousness or unkindness. He simply wasn’t sure yet how to proceed. Bunnymund needed something beyond comforting. That something was likely time.

“It happens to all of them, Bunny,” Nick was saying, himself a few cups in. “This can’t be the first, surely. But she is surely the most memorable. Surely!” He took another sip, realizing how much he was rambling. “I remember them all. Especially the ones you think are different. Remember Olga? She might have been my own daughter, how she fought me!” He chuckled, but even this seemed sad. “Gods, I miss her.”

There was a silence. Everyone was watching North now, even Jack. He hadn’t ever mentioned an ‘Olga’ before. 

“Anyway,” Nick said, seeming to recover a little. “At least Sophie is alive and well. And maybe, in time, she’ll have children of her own. And I’ll be damned if they don’t believe just like she did!”

This was the first thing that the big man had said to affect any change in Bunnymund’s demeanor. He raised his gaze and turned to look at Nicholas North. He seemed almost surprised, but he said nothing from that corner. Instead he sighed and took another long drink.

“I know,” he managed then. “I am just being soft.” Jack felt lifted to hear a bit of the gruffness come back in the rabbit’s voice. “But I’ll miss her.”

Tooth laid a comforting little hand on Bunny’s shoulder and everyone watched him for a moment, as if their sympathies would flow into him from their gazes.

“At least we still have Jamie,” she said in her little squeak of a voice. It was meant to be reassuring and no doubt it had that effect on most of them gathered at the long table. But it served to make Jack’s stomach twist. He swallowed more cold wine. His stomach turned on, so he stood up (more abruptly than he had meant) and picked up his staff.

“I have to go,” he said shortly. He knew it would look rude to the others, but he had no other words. In a last attempt to salvage the moment, he hesitated long enough to say: “I’m sorry about Sophie, Bunnymund.” With that, he walked to a window where a light spring breeze carried him away from the Pole.

\----------------------------

These last 10 years had been some of the most fulfilling in Jack Frost’s long life. For nearly 400 years he had travelled the globe alone, ever watching and never being seen. His loneliness was profound and more than he could express in words. The other guardians never gave him half a thought until that fateful year that they had all come together in unity. That day a bond had been formed that had yet to break. They were a team-- but more than that. Jack thought of them as a family, almost more than the one he had left behind hundreds of years ago.

And it was only 10 years ago that the first human children had seen him. It had completely changed Jack Frost’s world, and it had all started with a small boy named Jamie. 

What adventures they had together! The children could not unsee the world that had been flashed before their eyes. They were now a part of it, seeing and believing beyond what any other child could believe. They fought horrible beasts together. They found treasures beyond any earthly value and discovered magics too wonderful for language. 

As they travelled and played, they began to change. Growing bigger at first, but then growing in their minds as well. For the Guardians it was hard not to notice. To them 10 years was but a breath and before they could exhale the children they befriended were growing up.

Sophie and Jamie had been the last to forget. All the others entered teenagehood with minds set on the future, and like their parents and all before them, they forgot about the Guardians. They stopped seeing and they stopped believing.

And now Sophie couldn’t remember who had given her a baby bunny two years before. She especially couldn’t remember why it was called ‘Kangaroo’.

But Jamie could remember. Jamie Bennett remained the only human in the world to remember how the Guardians had defended them from the likes of Pitch Black. 

And soon, he would forget too.

\----------------------------------------------

Jack Frost paused on a mountain top, 15,000 feet up from sea level. Here there was no snow, but the frost never diminished and the winds whipped furiously around the rocky bends. For miles all the Guardian could see was mountains: some capped with snow and others sharp pinnacles of rock. No animals or plants could be spotted in this desolate place, though the wind howled like a wolf and kicked stones like a goat.

Jack liked being here. For obvious reasons he loved the cold. While he could stand warm temperatures, he felt most at peace in the snow and ice. Here his mind was beginning to clear and his breath was slowing down. He needed this to think.

The Guardians were his family, there was no mistaking that. Each filled a role that he needed in his heart and they all gave him the strength to do his duty and remain on guard against the evils that would spoil childhood.

But Jamie Bennett was more like his brother than any of them. While Jack loved to play with all children, Jamie would always remain his favourite. Indeed, Jamie was to Jack as Sophie had been to Bunnymund, and how Olga must have been to Nicholas. They had formed a fast bond the night of Pitch and it had grown each following year. Together they had explored all the corners of the world, testing the snows of so many lands. There had been danger, too, but they trusted one another and Jack would never let his human brother come to any harm.

Even at 17, Jamie loved to play in the snow. Nowadays this came in the form of snowboarding. He was an expert on the slopes, even occasionally challenging Jack’s prowess. Perhaps he was meant to pursue a career on a board, but it didn’t stop him from really, genuinely loving it. And, as the Guardian of Fun, Jack aided the boy whenever he could. Sometimes even despite the weather (or even the season). 

Furthermore, as the years went on, Jamie never stopped wondering and believing. These days he was all about the Lost City of Atlantis. He had pleaded with Jack to take him to Antarctica on his search, and it didn’t take long before the Guardian relented. Though they hadn’t found anything, it was a worthwhile trip that Jack would have repeated in a heartbeat.

Next year Jamie was heading to college. He was going to pursue archeology, which was just like him. He would learn so much, and make new friends... and grow up.

Suddenly Jack felt a strange sensation from his perch on the mountain top. It was something he rarely felt, at least not since he had been a human. It caught him completely off guard and he nearly fell. He knelt on the rocky precipice and clutched at his stomach, where it felt the strongest. It wasn’t pain, but it felt so red. After a few painting moments he realized what it was. He felt warm, truly warm.

Why? he thought frantically. I am Jack Frost... I can’t feel warm!

Then a thought struck him which frightened him more than he could say. There was only one explanation that could fit this scenario. To Jack Frost, the king of winter, feeling anything but cold could only mean one thing: he was losing his powers.

\---------------------

The slopes of the Rockies were graced with a truly perfect dump of powder that weekend. Though it was quite late in the season, Jamie had known that things would work out for him and his friends if they visited Lake Louise. They all doubted him, but when they saw the weather report they hollered and hooted and booked their tickets within the hour. The weather often seemed to work out for Jamie when he wanted to go snowboarding, and only he knew the reason why.

So there they were, at the top of Lake Louise, basking in the bright April sunshine and marveling at the picture perfect layer of snow. George elbowed Jamie as hard as he could to work through his thick jacket. 

“I’ve figured it out,” he said as Jamie recovered with a laugh. “He’s got horseshoes up his ass!” The five boys all laughed at this, Jamie smiling and looking at his feet. 

“Well then lets get going,” he then retorted, starting to buckle his board on. “Before I feel the need to take a shit!”

They were all fairly good at boarding by now. Over their high school years they had managed to take at least 3 ski trips per year. Jamie had worked hard to earn the money, though, in truth, he could have taken a free trip to the slopes any time he wanted. And, indeed, he had just been here less than a month ago when last he and Jack went boarding. But he continued to come with his friends to uphold the reason that he was better at it that anyone else in the group.

Today the weather was perfect. The sun, though bright, wasn’t hot enough to melt the snow and the wind was minimal. The snow kicked up in perfect arcs as the boarders made their speedy descent. They would call and joke at one another during the easy parts, and sober up sufficiently to tackle the difficult. Jamie conquered both with ease and skill, but above all, he did so with utter enjoyment.

About ten minutes into his descent, however, he was nearly waylaid by a mound of snow that he swore hadn’t been there minutes before. He veered to the left, narrowly missing it. As he attempted to maintain his balance after the obstacle, he felt the heavy thwack of a snowball hit the side of his face.

Now Jamie knew what was going on, but he didn’t let it stop him. His stubbled face grew a wide grin and his brown eyes scanned the 90 degrees in front of him. Though he didn’t see Jack Frost right away, he knew the trickster was around, waiting to throw another obstacle in his course.

“Behind you!” came a voice that was unmistakable. Jamie had to catch himself looking over his shoulder. The action could change his balance or his aim, which was no doubt Jack’s purpose. The laugh of a young man followed and Jamie felt another snowball whizz by his hat.

“You can do better than that, Jackie-boy!” Jamie taunted, suddenly veering far to the right down a tunneled part of the track. Here many, including Jamie, liked to practise freestyling. But today was not about practise.

At the first jump, Jamie crouched his board close to his body and grabbed the tip. He caught a glimpse of Jack beside him doing a similar motion without a board, and the game was quickly chosen.

The next bend supplied a half-pipe, and Jamie took care to launch himself up one side with a flourish. Jack matched him move for move. At the next jump Jamie chanced a flip-- only once around, before landing hard but not falling. Jack, ever the show-off, managed a double flip, though when he landed he stumbled and caught a face full of snow. Both boys laughed hysterically and a moment later Jack was back in the game, racing along the ice supplied by his staff.

This continued until the course ended and the slope evened enough for Jamie to stop suddenly and cause Jack to slide straight into him. This was no doubt the point, for he laughed when they fell into a pile.

Breath rising from each heaving breath, Jamie wrenched off his goggles and beamed brown eyes at Jack. “That was wicked awesome!” he cheered, pumping a gloved fist in the air from his spot on the ground. He was far too tired to get up quite yet, and his other friends had yet to make it down the slope.

Jack grinned, his own blue eyes sparkling. “I thought you’d like my present!” he said, his own chest heaving slightly. 

“What’s the occasion?” Jamie said, still grinning. He turned his attention to his boots which he unclipped from his board. 

“Do I need one?” Jack laughed. He did, in fact, have a reason, but he kept that to himself.

Jamie stood up and offered a hand to Jack, which the Guardian took even though he didn’t need to. When standing next to Jack, his human friend looked so tall. He was tall, even for his age. He had matured quite a bit over his senior year: he had lost any remaining baby fat over his fit body and was even starting to grow a scruffy brown beard, the same colour as his eyes and hair. He looked more a man than Jack was ever going to look.

“What’s with the stubble?” Jack inquired, his eyes narrowing. “Trying to look like old North? He’s not going to take you as an apprentice, you know.”

Jamie laughed. “You don’t like it?” He put on a hurt face. “Maybe you’ll take me instead, huh?”

Jack rolled his eyes and raised a few feet in the air, thanks to a friendly gust of wind. He hovered level with with his friend with his hands on his hips. “You still look like a kid to me.”

“Look who’s talking!” Jamie retorted, but at that moment he turned to the sounds of one of his friends ripping down the hill, looking fairly unbalanced. Jamie fell into laughs as his friend wiped out a few meters from him. When he turned back to where Jack Frost had been, he saw only snowflakes.

\------------------------------

The five senior boys talked and drank late into the night. Though they were all underaged, one of them had smuggled in a bottle of vodka which they passed around while sitting in front of a happy fire. They shared a good-sized resort room which was time shared for late in the season. It was beyond what any one of them could afford, but together they managed to cobble together enough for two years of stay. It was money well spent.

By midnight they agreed to collectively pass out, wanting to hit the slopes early tomorrow in case the weather turned warm. It showed a great love of boarding that they didn’t remain and polish off the last of the liquor. Regardless, they all felt light-headed and groggy when they hit their pillows.

Jamie was as tired as the rest as he went to lay on his top bunk. The moon was full and bright as it hung low in the sky. It gave the snow below a slight glow as it rested on fir and spruce trees. One of these majestic pines was adorned with a single figure, silhouetted against the moon. In his tired stupor, Jamie did not realize who it was at first. Then, with a jolt, he sat up and climbed down the bunk.

“Whereya goin?” Tim asked groggily from the bottom bunk. 

“Need some air,” Jamie murmured as he zipped up his jacket and kicked on his boots.

The air outside was icy cold-- far colder than it should have been. Jamie’s breath rose in clouds and he felt his nose hairs freezing together. Without a hat or mittens, he was starting to regret his midnight trek, but not enough to turn back. 

He headed for the tree line where he had seen Jack Frost moments before. The snow had formed a crust of ice which crunched noisily underfoot. Otherwise no sounds broke the silence of the night.

“Hey, little buddy,” came Jack’s voice from ahead and above. Jamie stopped and leaned back to look all the way up a tall tree in front of him. Without seeing the speaker, he replied, “When are you going to stop calling me ‘little’?”

Jack Frost floated down as gentle as a snowflake, and just as quietly. His hair seemed to glow just as the snow under the generous moonlight. His face, however, was no longer filled with the life and joy that it had earlier that day.

“Want a drink?” Jamie offered, brandishing the bottle which was still partly filled. 

Jack, caught off guard, laughed and after a moment he took the bottle and held it between two hands. A curl of frost rose up its lengths in a beautiful pattern. Jack took a swig and cocked a half-smile. “Not bad,” he mused, swirling the liquid around a bit. “But North has got much better.”

“Remind me to ask him for some next time I’m at the Pole,” Jamie mused, taking the bottle from his friend and taking another drink. 

“Because the big guy is going to let you drink underagged?” Jack said with eyebrows raised. “He does have some moral character, you know.”

“Unlike you,” Jamie grinned and Jack couldn’t help but return the gesture. He snatched the bottle playfully and took a meaningful gulp.

“So, you heard about Sophie?” Jamie offered in ways of conversation. His voice seemed casual, but his eyes were fixed on Jack, waiting for an immediate answer.

Jack nodded slowly. He hadn’t expected the conversation to turn this way so soon. “Bunnymund’s pretty torn up about it,” he supplied, his voice dropping and his icy gaze fixing on something in the distance. “I guess we all thought she would believe forever.”

Jamie’s face suddenly contorted into a frown. He clutched the bottle, but didn’t take another drink. “I can’t believe her,” he spat, venting the rage that he had felt at his sister these past weeks. “How can you just... forget?” 

Jack’s eyes found his friend’s face again and his expression softened. “It’s been a long time since she’s seen any of us,” he offered in way of explanation. “And besides...” He swallowed then, finding the next words particularly hard to say. He looked at his feet, bare in the snow. It took him a few moments of pending silence to say anymore.

“Besides... it happens to everyone when they grow up.”

More silence followed, but when Jack raised his eyes to Jamie’s, he saw that he wasn’t at all surprised. He was frowning, not a scowl like he wore before, but a small sad frown. “Will it happen to me?” he asked then.

“Eventually. Maybe soon,” Jack couldn’t maintain any eye contact for this part. If he did, he would lose it. “It will be fine,” he went on, swallowing any sad feelings that were growing inside. “You won’t even notice. You’ll have all these new friends and new adventures. It’ll be great!”

But Jamie wasn’t responding, so Jack went on.

“I mean, you have to grow up eventually, right? You’re not a little kid anymore. Just like you said. You are bigger than me, after all.”

Jack was met with more silence, so he stopped yammering and waited.

“I won’t forget,” Jamie said in a voice that was being pulled over gravel. He cleared his throat and took a breath, “I won’t. I can’t. Not after everything I have seen. Not after all the crazy things we have done.” He was gaining confidence in himself now. “No, other kids forget because they weren’t there, Jack. Not me. I can’t forget. I won’t.” At this last exclamation he put a big hand on Jack’s small shoulder. The smaller man started and looked up. Their eyes met and Jack knew from the growing warmth in his stomach that none of what Jamie said was true. 

So he slid out from under his friend’s touch and let a soft wind carry him a few feet away.

“I’m sorry, Jamie,” he said, feeling an icy lump grow in his throat. “This is probably going to be the last time. Thanks for...” He trailed off, not sure where to start, or where to end. So instead he turned and let the wind carry him to where no one would see him cry.

\------------------------

Nicholas North looked meaningfully at Jack Frost’s back where he stood a few feet from the big man. Christmas preparations were in full swing at the Pole and everyone was busy. In only 9 short months they would need to be ready to bring wonder to the children of the world. Every so often a yeti would barge between the two Guardians, neither of whom took notice.

“What do you mean, you are losing your powers?” Nick demanded, eyes narrowing.

Jack did not turn to face the big man, but instead looked at his own hands. Even now he could feel the warmth creeping up his arms towards his wrists. 

“I tried making a storm yesterday,” he said partly to himself. “All I managed was a flurry. It’s almost like... It’s as if I’m melting.” He dropped his hands and turned to Nick, his face filled with worry. “Nick, something’s wrong with me.”

Nick turned on the spot to face the enormous globe that took up much of the receiving hall. It was alive with glowing points like a great round Christmas tree. Millions of lights twinkled all over it, reassuring the old man.

“Even if none of these lights were alive,” Nick began, “You never needed them to believe in you. You always had your power, even in solitude.” He turned back to the smaller Guardian again. “Even if you have grown to depend on their fun, there is no lack for it anywhere.”

Jack studied the globe and eventually he found himself searching through the million lights in North America. “There is one person who might stop believing soon. Someone who helped me get my powers in the first place. If he stopped believing... could that effect my freezing?”

Nick put a hand to his great white beard and stroked it meaningfully. He was studying Jack carefully: starting with his bare feet, travelling up his thin legs, up his torso and to his head of silver hair. “You are talking about Jamie,” he said, not as a question. “You think Jamie is holding all of your powers in his belief?”

Jack Frost paused and bit his lower lip. When North put it that way, his theory sounded ridiculous. But there was no denying the feelings that arose in Jack’s body whenever it seemed Jamie was going to forget. Even considering the prospect make Jack feel weak. 

Nick was still watching him, hand methodically running over his beard again and again. “You say, melting?” he asked then. When Jack nodded, he went back to stroking. “You are feeling... warm?” Without waiting for a reply Nick began to pace. By the fourth lap, he stopped. “I don’t think you need to worry about losing your powers,” he concluded. “This I am sure of.”

“But what about Jamie?” Jack asked weakly. “Is he going to end up like Sophie? Is he going to forget us?” Is he going to forget me? Jack left the last part unspoken.

“Jack Frost.” Nicholas North took Jack by the shoulder and pulled him into a surprisingly gentle hug. “In time you will forget, too.”

“Just like you forgot Olga?” 

Both Guardians fell into silence. They disentangled and parted ways. Jack didn’t feel better at all.

\-------------------------

Jamie waited each night for his Guardian friend to return, but ended up in bed still worried and confused. His last conversation with Jack unsettled him more than he would admit to anyone. The prospect of losing his relationship with the Guardians with dismal: he had found in them so much wonder, love and adventure. He couldn’t imagine leaving that world behind.

But was Jack right: would he not even notice the onset? Would he wake up one morning and not remember any of his adventures with the Guardians? Would it be all a dream, or a fantasy? It was hard to wrap his brain around the concept of just forgetting, so instead he convinced himself that it just would never happen.

Now he focused on the problem at hand: Jack Frost was gone. The next day the boys woke to find the mountainside warm and melting. Disappointed, they spent the rest of their weekend in the nearby resort towns. And while the other boys seemed to salvage their own trips, Jamie felt completely lost.

When he got home, spring was well underway and there wasn’t even a nightly frost. Occasionally Jamie woke with a start and opened his window. But the breeze that tumbled in was warm and soft. While everyone was enjoying what was promising to be an early summer, Jamie was inexplicably inconsolable.

By the second week, he was starting to feel desperate. He considered knocking out one of his teeth, but he didn’t think Tooth would look kindly on that action. Then there was the option of treking to the North Pole and breaking down Nicholas North’s door, but it would force Jamie to miss exams. Bunnymund was a no-go and he wasn’t sure if Sandy even visited kids his age anymore. However, feeling the latter was his best option, he set his alarm for 2am and went to bed.

He had no success until the third night. When the alarm went off Jamie was up like a rocket, achieving a face full of golden fabric and bounding off of a solid object. “Aha! I knew you’d come in person eventually!” Sandy, caught quite off guard, panicked and tried to toss some sand at Jamie’s face. By then, however, the young man was on his feet and towering over the dumpy little Guardian. 

“Stop that,” Jamie demanded at Sandy, who was still attempting to toss bits of glowing sand at the boy. “I need you to listen.”

Sandy sighed and lowered himself onto the bed. He smiled in his quiet way and patted the spot next to him. The Sandman was nothing if not good at listening.

“Actually, I need you to take me somewhere,” Jamie said, with just a hint of hesitation in his voice. “To Jack Frost.”

Sandy replied with a roll of his eyes that Jamie wasn’t sure he could comprehend. “You will help me, won’t you?” asked Jamie. Sandy nodded and rose in the air. With a flourish of his hand a fine golden cloud materialized underneath him. He beckoned for Jamie to come sit with him. Used to these sorts of vehicles, Jamie clambered on and in a moment they were out the window and into the sky.

\----------------------------

They found him pouting on an iceberg somewhere in the Atlantic.

Jack saw them coming quite a ways off, but saw no point in fleeing. Sandy had a way of finding people and he was sure there was no hiding from the little golden man. At first he thought it was just he to come cheer him up somehow, but when Jack saw Jamie his heart gave a jump.

“What are you doing here?” he demanded of both of them. Sandy pointed at Jamie and Jamie looked dumbfounded.

“Sorry?” he offered, not meaning it. “I just thought we were, you know, friends?”

Jack furrowed his brow and turned away from the both of them. “I just need some time alone,” he said in a low voice. There was a swish of sound that told him that Sandy had conjured up a way home. When Jack turned to watch them leave, however, he saw that Jamie was still there.

“There goes your ride.”

Jamie was frowning, trying to work something out in his young mind. He still hadn’t shaved that ridiculous stubble and his hair was a mess from obviously having just woken up. It was still nighttime in eastern US, after all. 

“Alright, Jack, what is your problem?” Jamie then demanded, crossing the space between them. The huge iceberg had a small platform on one side where Jack had chosen to sit. It was all ice with a fine layer of snow on the top. Somehow Jamie did not slip.

“I’m fine,” Jack tried to say, but he choked on the last word. Swallowing hard, he tried to will away his tears. “I FINE,” he said clearly this time, as if trying to convince himself it was true.

“You are not,” Jamie accused. He was right behind his friend now. Jack could feel his heat, but it was nothing to his own. The temperature in his body had continued to rise over the weeks. He felt like his body was going to sizzle and crack. It was a wonder the great mound of ice wasn’t melting beneath him.

“Jack,” Jamie went on. “Can you at least look at me?” He put a hand on the Guardians shoulder but then recoiled quickly. “You’re... you’re so warm!”

At this Jack did turn around. “I don’t know why,” he said in a squeak of a voice. “It’s just like... whenever I think about you forgetting us, I can’t use my powers. I feel like, if you stop believing, I’ll be gone. I won’t be a Guardian anymore.” Jack’s eyes were filled with tears and fear as they looked up to his tall friend.

“Me?” Jamie asked, started by Jack’s sudden revelation. “Why me? What’s makes me so important?”

Jack shook his head and squeezed his eyes shut. As he did, fat tears rolled down his cheeks and did not freeze. You’re important to me, Jamie, he thought desperately. When he opened his eyes, he saw Jamie knelt down at his level through a veil of tears. A hand was to his face, wiping with one thumb. “You’re so warm,” Jamie murmured again. 

“I want it to stop,” Jack sobbed now. “I can’t stand it. Everything hurts. I think of you... and it hurts so bad. Jamie,” he took the hand that held his face tight between his two. “You can’t forget us. Please. You can’t leave me.” He was shaking from the sobs, or was it from the heat? He felt like it would consume him right now. It was rising even now and he looked into the brown eyes of the person he cared most about. “Please.”

And then Jamie’s face was so close to his own, hesitating half an inch from him, so close that their noses brushed so softly. He was so close that Jack could hear the hard thumps of his heartbeat. Or was it his own? The heat was so overwhelming he thought he would die, but instead he leant forward.

Suddenly everything made sense in the world. Jack’s soft lips met with Jamie’s in a tentative kiss. When neither pulled away, it became another. Jamie’s hand was moving to the back of Jack’s neck and another was on the ground to steady himself. Jack’s hands worked their way up a strong chest, covered only by a t-shirt against the cold night air.

And then Jamie slipped on the melting ice. His hand went out from under him and he fell forward. Jack fell under him and then both ended up in another pile. Shortly after recovering they both fell into laughing: about the slip, about the kissing and about everything. There was a mutual giddiness in both of them, flushed with pleasure and emotions.

“Well,” Jamie said when he recovered from his chuckling. 

“Yes, well,” echoed Jack, awkwardly brushing snow from his hoodie. 

They gave each other long meaningful looks before either spoke again.

“I better get you home before the morning,” Jack said, and he was the first to stand. Jamie followed, brushing the snow off of his own vestments. His boxers and shirt were cold with melted ice and he stuck his hands in his armpits.

“When did it get so cold?” he asked, the moment forgotten.

Jack looked at him, and then down at his hands. He didn’t feel the overwhelming heat anymore. He crouched and touched the ground, watching a pattern of frost erupt from the spot. He stood again, his eyes deep in thought. Jamie waited, watching for any sign of understanding. “I’m cold,” Jack said then. But he wasn’t-- not entirely. Somewhere deep down there was still a fire blazing. When he raised his eyes to meet Jamie’s, he felt it grow hotter.

They flew home on a strong northern wind. And when they arrived, a late frost had settled over the sleeping town. No doubt Bunnymund would be furious that Jack had ruined his spring flowers, but the young Guardian didn’t care.

He watched his Jamie climb into his bedroom window, then followed to meet him there.

“It was you, after all,” Jack Frost said, his face completely serious. “You were messing up my powers, my body. All of it.”

The coy smile Jamie flashed back at him through the open window made the heat rise in Jack’s face again. “Then you’ll have to come back whenever it’s a problem again.”

Feeling red in the face, Jack took that as his moment to leave. But before doing so, he reached through the open window and caught Jamie’s wrist.

“You won’t forget me, will you?” he asked in earnest.

Jamie stared at those blue eyes-- so big you could fall into them. Impulsively, he leaned in for another kiss through the window. “You promise to come back?” he asked in return.

The matching smiles that both boys wore answered both questions. And then Jack was gone again, and Jamie made doodles in the frosted window until dawn.

 

End


End file.
